Communicating Online: Podcast Research

 Hello, classmates!

For this week's discussion on podcasts, I've selected a particular episode of Jessi Hempel's Hello Monday series entitled Disrupting Inequity with Darnisa Amante-Jackson. As seen in the description of the podcast, Dr. Darnisa Amante-Jackson is the co-founder of DEEP- the Disruptive Equity Education Project, an organization that offers educational partnerships with teams and institutions that are looking to instill and nurture cultural and personal changes related to diversity and inclusion. 

In our textbook readings for this week, the chapter regarding media agenda discusses the many ways mass media affects social issues- what is seen, how they are seen, and the way these influence the outcome of the issue long-term. Our chapter also discussed the idea of interest aggregations, or "clusters of people who demand center stage for their one overriding concern" (Green, 2020, p. 147). Due to the influence of grassroots organizations and independent media, mass media began to pay close attention to issues affecting the black community, particularly the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the problems with systemic racism. Due to this rise in attention, thanks to black interest aggregations, diversity and equity training, whether person or institutional, was and still is in popular demand. The organization co-founded by Dr. Darnisa Amante-Jackson specializes in this kind of training, and in the podcast with Jessi Hempel, describes DEEP's unique approach to systemic racism as intentionally "disruptive." According to Amante-Jackson, each part of their work requires a different communicative approach: "diversity versus belonging versus inclusion versus equity. They are all different forms of work. They require a different mindset and they require different skills" (Amante-Jackson, 2020). In their training module, which my employer, Davidson College, is seeking to possibly undertake, DEEP provides different virtual modules and different discussion platforms depending on the actual needs of the client and the desired outcomes. Rather than taking a solely "vertical media" approach, or "media that tries to reach a broad, diverse audience" (Green, 2020, p. 152), DEEP employs a more "agendamelding" approach- one that "creates pictures of our view of the world to fit our experiences and preferences." Meaning, the style for an individual training would differ from the training for a college campus or a business organization, and would take into account the historical work that may have already happened. 

DEEP's approach also embodies Clifford Christians' Communitarian Ethics, which are a "moral responsibility to promote community, mutuality, and persons-in-relation who live simultaneously for others and for themselves" (Green, 2020, p. 153). While the work aims to be beneficial to the black community specifically, it is also mutually beneficial to many other marginalized groups as race intersects with other oppressions, and to the communal awareness and education as well. As Amante-Jackson states in the podcast, "belonging is the sweet spot for us all. Belonging is where schools will see the biggest changes in the opportunity gap and belonging is where companies will see the biggest change in retention and recruiting" (Amante-Jackson, 2020.)

-H